What video games are based on tabletop RPGs?

[Emperor Megas]

Can you guys please list some licensed video games that are based off of pen and paper RPGs? Thanks!

[Drixxel]

The first that spring to mind are the console adaptations of Warhammer and Warhammer 40K, like Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels (PSX/Sat/3DO), Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat (PSX) and Warhammer: Dark Omen (also PSX). There're PC versions of those, too.

..But now that I've taken another moment to think, those aren't really the sort of games you're asking about adaptations of. Pen-and-paper RPG-wise, well, you have Shadowrun on Genesis and SNES, the swath of AD&D releases spanning numerous consoles, the three Hunter: The Reckoning installments across Gamecube, Xbox & PS2, and then the Mechwarrior games. There have got to be more.

[Sunnyvale]

There's Shadowrun, Magic (if that counts), a post-apocolyptic PC game whose name eludes me (early 2000's), and a good number of 80's D&D knock offs for the PC's of the day. Mechwarrior too, and seems like I heard of a Vampire the Masquerade and a Gamma World PC game, but I dunno for sure. The good ones, IMO ( and I haven't played D&D online) are the PC Forgotten Realms/Baldur's Gate series. Good stuff there, for ports of an RPG. But seriously, a pen-n-paper RPG is so far removed from any video game it's not fair to call even the FF series RPG's. What role exactly does one play in those games? They're strategy games, with a fantasy bent.

Edit: After a bit o Google, I got more info. Fallout IMO is based on Gamma World, just as the movie Jonny Mnemonic was based on Shadowrun. That's the PC game whose name eluded me.

[Edmond Dantes]

Pen-and-paper RPG-wise, well, you have Shadowrun on Genesis and SNES

... and Mega CD.

[Porksta]

The first that spring to mind are the console adaptations of Warhammer and Warhammer 40K, like Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels (PSX/Sat/3DO), Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat (PSX) and Warhammer: Dark Omen (also PSX). There're PC versions of those, too.

..But now that I've taken another moment to think, those aren't really the sort of games you're asking about adaptations of. Pen-and-paper RPG-wise, well, you have Shadowrun on Genesis and SNES, the swath of AD&D releases spanning numerous consoles, the three Hunter: The Reckoning installments across Gamecube, Xbox & PS2, and then the Mechwarrior games. There have got to be more.

Well, Warhammer isn't a tabletop RPG.

[Queen Of The Felines]

Rifts was on the N-Gage.

Champions Online

There was an old Battletech game from Infocom. Not sure if that counts as a tabletop RPG though.

Wasn't there a Traveller game at some point?

I would also kill for a Legend of the Five Rings game and am very happy there's never been a video game based on FATAL or Synnibar.

[NerdXCrewWill]

Edit: After a bit o Google, I got more info. Fallout IMO is based on Gamma World, just as the movie Jonny Mnemonic was based on Shadowrun. That's the PC game whose name eluded me.

Johnny Mnemonic is actually my favorite movie of all time. It's based on a story by William Gibson that predates Shadowrun by 8 years.

Fallout obviously took a great deal of influence from Wasteland. I think it's much more likely that the creators were more familiar with Wasteland, as Fallout is so markedly similar, than Gamma World. Wasteland, however, was most likely influenced by Gamma World.

[Battlehork]

I would also kill for a Legend of the Five Rings game and am very happy there's never been a video game based on FATAL or Synnibar.

You have no idea how much I agree with the entirety of this statement.

Playing a theoretical FATAL MMO would land you on several government watch lists anyway.

[Sunnyvale]

Johnny Mnemonic is actually my favorite movie of all time. It's based on a story by William Gibson that predates Shadowrun by 8 years.

Fallout obviously took a great deal of influence from Wasteland. I think it's much more likely that the creators were more familiar with Wasteland, as Fallout is so markedly similar, than Gamma World. Wasteland, however, was most likely influenced by Gamma World.

Wow, I didn't know Shadowrun was the plagarist!

[Blitzwing256]

heroscape for nes was original a board game

[Drixxel]

Well, Warhammer isn't a tabletop RPG.

Right, and that occurred to me. A tabletop wargame is at least in the same basic league as far as being the source for a video game adaptation. Or maybe I'm insane.


..But now that I've taken another moment to think, those aren't really the sort of games you're asking about adaptations of. Pen-and-paper RPG-wise, well, you have...

Man, there really are a lot of D&D console games. Dropping the D&D/AD&D prefix for reasons of redundancy, we have:

Cloudy Mountain (originally titled merely AD&D), INTV
Treasures of Tarmin, INTV
Heroes of the Lance, NES
Hillsfar, NES
Pool of Radiance, NES
Dragonstrike, NES
Eye of the Beholder, Gen/SNES/Sega CD
Order of the Griffin, TG16
Warriors of the Eternal Sun, Gen
Tower of Doom, Sat
Slayer, 3DO
Deathkeep, 3DO
Iron & Blood, PSX

If I've missed any, definitely add them on. Of those, I've only played Pool of Radiance, Eye of the Beholder and Order of the Griffin and I can't say I've been especially fond of any of them. The interface has always struck me as clumsy and my short attention span as a kid didn't agree with the games' learning curves. The arcade version of Tower of Doom is pretty sweet, I'd love to pick up the Saturn port at some point.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Wow, I didn't know Shadowrun was the plagarist!

Oh yeah. I read Gibson's Neuromancer and was shocked by how much stuff was lifted in Shadowrun. Though to be fair, Gibson created the basis for cyberpunk genre as a whole.

There's lots of Dungeons and Dragons PC games...

http://www.gog.com/en/mix/rpgs

There's nine at GOG.

[j_factor]

Forgotten Realms is part of D&D. Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter Nights all take place in Forgotten Realms and are definitely AD&D games, though they don't use it in the title. More obviously there is Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone for Xbox. Xbox also has a game called D&D Heroes. Pool of Radiance also takes place in Forgotten Realms, although in that case they put the AD&D name in the title. Pool of Radiance was actually the beginning of a series. Its sequels were Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silver Blades, Pools of Darkness, and Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures. Eye of the Beholder, previously mentioned, has two direct sequels as well.

[Berserker]

I think this is an interesting question because you can look at it two ways: games that feature the same worlds and rules as tabletop RPGs, which are relatively easy to find, and games that offer the same sense of possibility that tabletop RPGs - at their best - have, which are much rarer.

You hint that you're looking more for the first category, so I can suggest plenty of games like Baldur's Gate and the like, but it might be worth giving some thought to the second.